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Jacob/BlankEarth
William Jacob Delsin (born April 5th, 1995), is a one of the main supporting characters in Blank Earth and the main protagonist/narrator of Of Cigarettes & Copulation. His backstory leading up to the events of Blank Earth is relatively unknown and the only people to know his past in detail are his ex-girlfriend Sam Davidson and deceased wife Sophie Procter. In 'Blank Earth', Jacob is seen to be an opiate-addicted hermit living in downtown Seattle, Washington. Despite his withdrawn behaviors, Jacob is shown to be rather friendly, social, caring, romantic and even comedic around those he is genuinely comfortable around, despite appearing cold, distant, silent and apathetic to others. In 'Of Cigarettes & Copulation' however, his colder and darker personality has become his main as he struggles with what he describes as nihilistic apathy and a feeling of "chronic emptiness". Personality Jacob is generally a very altruistic and caring person, despite his apparent pessimistic views about the world and others. It's possible that his distrust, hatred and even disgust for the world is the cause of Jacob's own internal self-loathing. Jacob has been shown to put himself in great deals of stress, pain and even danger in order to gain any sort of worth or appreciation from those who he admires. However, even with his altruistic values it seems that Jacob has issues being able to find connection, attachment or empathy for individuals. In 'Blank Earth', Jacob notes having a history of attachment issues which is possibly one of the reasons for his detachment and isolation from others and inability to truly make friends with those he doesn't idolize. In both of his appearances, he tends to live in apartments that appear to be in disrepair and lives a very minimalist lifestyle, with none of what little he owns being of any real value, this usually deters neighbors who might otherwise rob him. In 'Blank Earth', Jacob is shown to have an addiction to opiate painkillers (notably percocets and vicodin) among false rumors in his social circle that he had begun shooting heroin. Jacob also is commonly seen drinking beer and smoking however he denies being addicted to either. Jacob prefers his substance abuse to remain personal and separate from his social life and usually avoids discussing such topics around his friends going as far as to isolate himself for weeks when either binging on substances or dealing with withdrawl. Jacob seems to be rather conservative when it comes to sexual activities however, seeing the act of intercourse as sacred and only engaging women he actively has feelings for. Jacob is also extremely against and sensitive to the idea of manipulation and rape - to the point that he apologized to Jay Sanders for nearly engaging intercourse with her, even though she had given consent. However, even with this strict moral code; Jacob seems to have little problem - albeit only occasionally - joining Dawn Anderson's group sessions, which are focused around getting high on various recreational drugs and engaging in a group orgy. This backfires once Ami Richards uses this get-together to take advantage of him (which he does not later recall). A few days later, while both are sober, Ami admits she has romantic feelings for him (which he does not return) as well as (accidentally) admitting to raping him, this of course severely damages their relationship and trust and Jacob is seldom seen for the rest of the novel. In 'Of Cigarettes & Copulation', Jacob is shown to have become a much more apathetic and indifferent individual, no longer viewing things with a pessimistic outlook and instead seeing everything from a hedonistic and nihilist standpoint, caring and noticing very little about things that don't immediately affect him. Jacob is also shown to have grown and sarcastic and cynical sense of humor and his self-loathing has reached the point where Jacob generally insults himself in conversation and thought for no real reason. It's shown that since the death of his wife, Sophie, Jacob has returned to smoking and has become an alcoholic (as shown by his desire for large amounts of whiskey). Jacob has remained surprising clean of opiate abuse due to their price and availability. Jacob has since grown an addiction to caffeine and has practically abandoned his views on sexual activities as 'sacred'. This is shown by the large amount of condom wrappers littered around his apartment and his no-strings-attached relationship with Jennifer Rose and even May Lawson (before Jacob and the latter become romantically involved with one another). Like he did in 'Blank Earth', Jacob seems persistent on avoiding any form of conflict and loathes even being approached or observed by others, even those he's grown to know well such as Jennifer and the other frequents at the bar. This avoidance changes after Jacob intervenes in a brutal rape and torture on Jennifer by hired members of the mafia, which lands her in the hospital and sends Jacob on a vigilant murder spree against both low and high-class criminals. Ironically, the spree is not based on vengeance but more simply apathy, boredom and a desire for either life or death. While in the process of taking down the Sacchitiello crime family, Jacob is joined by May Lawson of whom he had previously slept with earlier in the book. Jacob learns quite easily that May had only slept with him so that she could get information from him as she holds a vendetta against the family for murdering her brother (May never obtains this information from Jacob, because he was clueless as to the events around him). It's revealed that sleeping with mafia-associated men (and usually killing them afterwards) is a common tactic of hers. Unlike with Ami, Jacob remains indifferent to being used. Backstory Blank Earth Of Cigarettes & Copulation Killed Victims This list shows the victims Jacob has killed: